Samsung Previews Slim External DVD Writer at CES

Samsung offers consumers a glimpse of its slimline DVD writer, which will hit the market in Q2 2010 and is powered through a USB cable.

Consumer electronics company Samsung announced a showing of
a prototype of its slim external DVD writer, the SE-S084D optical disk drive
(ODD), at this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. The writer,
which offers a compact footprint and a USB power source to eliminate electrical
outlet requirements. It also features a rounded shape and compact size that the
company said is 20 percent smaller than conventional DVD writers. It is 25
percent lighter than Samsung's conventional DVD writer, the company noted. The
writer will be available in the second quarter of 2010, a company release
stated.

The SE-S084D DVD writer is engineered to be compatible with
all major operating systems, including Win7 and Mac OS. The DVD writer features
Buffer Under Run technology to prevent errors that result from writing speeds
that exceed data transfer speeds and is being marketed as an eco-friendly
product, manufactured with lead-free soldering technology, plus harmful
materials such as Pb, cd, cr+6, Hg, PBBs and PBDE have been eliminated. The DVD
writer drive provides a variety of speeds across different data media types
including: 24X CD-ROM, 24X CD-RW, 8X DVD??R recording, 5X DVD-RAM recording, 8X
DVD+R Dual Layer recording, 6X DVD-R Dual Layer recording, 8X DVD+RW recording
and 6X DVD-RW recording.

"Because netbooks are designed for ultra mobility, they
aren't typically equipped with optical disc drives, which can potentially make
booting from a CD or playing a DVD movie a problem," said John Suh, director of
OMS sales and marketing, Samsung Semiconductor, Inc. "But with the lightweight,
portable SE-S084D Optical Disc Drive, you have the perfect on-the-go,
stand-alone. And thanks to its USB BUS power source, you can write at maximum
speed with no outlet in sight." Earlier this week Samsung beefed up its consumer data
storage offerings with the G Series, its new lineup of external hard drives,
which are designed under an eco-friendly green concept. The new G series will
augment Samsung's existing external drive portfolio of 1.8-inch, 2.5-inch and
3.5-inch drives. The G-Series includes the 2.5-inch G2 Portable with
250/320/500/640GB densities and the 3.5-inch G3 Station, available in 1/1.5/2TB
versions. The G-Series are eco-friendly drives that are halogen-free, featuring
low noise levels and low power consumption.

Nathan Eddy is Associate Editor, Midmarket, at eWEEK.com. Before joining eWEEK.com, Nate was a writer with ChannelWeb and he served as an editor at FierceMarkets. He is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.